1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to wrapping materials and, more particularly, to a decorative sleeve for gift wrapping hexahedronally-shaped articles and the like.
2. Discussion
Presently, there are a variety of ways in which boxes and other articles can be decoratively gift wrapped. However, most are generally laborious, inconvenient, time consuming and require at least some degree of artistic skill or craftsmanship to produce a functional and aesthetically pleasing finished gift wrapped article.
A common gift wrapping procedure typically consists of first measuring and cutting a desired amount of wrapping paper from a supply roll or other source and then forming and securing the paper about the article to be wrapped. To achieve the latter, it is often necessary to fold and crease the wrapping paper a number of times so that the excess or overlapping wrapping paper is conformed to the shape of the article being wrapped. Further, adhesive tape, string, ribbon, or the like must then be utilized to maintain the folded wrapping paper in its desired configuration.
An alternative method of gift wrapping frequently employed involves placing the article to be wrapped in a decorative, open-ended bag that may be garnished with tissue paper, ribbon, or the like. However, these bags can not be closed around the article and, thus, the aesthetic effect of conventional gift wrapping is not achieved. Also, often the articles placed in the bag are separately gift wrapped themselves and, therefore, the inconvenience and other burdens of conventional girl wrapping still remain.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to significantly simplify the practice of gift wrapping while still producing aesthetically pleasing gift-wrapped articles.
It is another object of the present invention to enable aesthetically pleasing gift wrapped articles to be achieved by those lacking any artistic skill, talent or craftsmanship, whatsoever.
In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a preformed gift wrapping sleeve for use in gift wrapping a hexahedronally-shaped article of a predetermined size, whereby the steps necessary to gift wrap the article are simplified and minimized.
The gift wrapping sleeve of the present invention includes a single, continuous piece of non-self-supporting sheet material having a decorative design incorporated on its exterior surface which may be suitable for any occasion. The sheet material is folded to form two pairs of opposite side walls. The first pair of side walls extend at different lengths such that there is a longer wall and a shorter wall. The second pair of side walls have creases that extend their entire lengths which enable the gift wrapping sleeve to be collapsible to a storage position when not in use. One end of the sleeve is pre-closed by folding the second pair of side walls along their creases and then folding and securing the longer wall to the shorter wall. The article to be gift wrapped is then placed within the sleeve and the other end of the sleeve is closed in the same manner as the first, with the longer wall being secured to the shorter wall by adhesion means located near the end of the longer wall.